Thin film quantum materials

Abstract:

Microwave and heat assisted magnetic recording are two competing technologies that have greatly increased the capacity of hard disk drives. The efficiency of the magnetic recording process can be further improved by employing non-collinear spin structures that combine perpendicular and in-plane magnetic anisotropy. Here, we investigate both microwave and optically excited magnetization dynamics in [Co/Pt]/NiFe exchange spring samples. The resulting canted magnetization within the nanoscale [Co/Pt]/NiFe interfacial region allows for optically stimulated magnetization precession to be observed for an extended magnetic field and frequency range. The results can be explained by formation of an imprinted domain structure, which locks the magnetization orientation and makes the structures more robust against external perturbations. Tuning the canted interfacial domain structure may provide greater control of optically excited magnetization reversal and optically generated spin currents, which are of paramount importance for future ultrafast magnetic recording and spintronic applications.

Abstract:

Three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) are a perfectly tuned quantum-mechanical machinery in which counter-propagating and oppositely spin-polarized conduction channels balance each other on the surface of the material. This topological surface state crosses the bandgap of the TI, and lives at the interface between the topological and a trivial material, such as vacuum. Despite its balanced perfection, it is rather useless for any practical applications. Instead, it takes the breaking of time-reversal symmetry (TRS), and the appearance of an exchange gap to unlock hidden quantum states. The quantum anomalous Hall effect, which has first been observed in Cr-doped (Sb,Bi)2Te3, is an example of such a state in which two edge channels are formed at zero field, crossing the magnetic exchange gap. The breaking of TRS can be achieved by magnetic doping of the TI with transition metal or rare earth ions, modulation doping to keep the electronically active channel impurity free, or by proximity coupling to a magnetically ordered layer or substrate, in heterostructures or superlattices. We review the challenges these approaches are facing in the famous 3D TI (Sb,Bi)2(Se,Te)3 family, and try to answer the question whether these materials can live up to the hype surrounding them.

Abstract:

Magnetic multilayers offer diverse opportunities for the development of ultrafast functional devices through advanced interface and layer engineering. Nevertheless, a method for determining their dynamic properties as a function of depth throughout such stacks have remained elusive. By probing the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) modes with element-selective soft x-ray resonant reflectivity, we gain access to the magnetization dynamics as a function of depth. Most notably, using reflectometry ferromagnetic resonance (RFMR), we find a phase lag between the coupled ferromagnetic layers in [CoFeB/MgO/Ta]4 multilayers, which is invisible to other techniques. RFMR enables the time- and layer-resolved probing of the complex magnetization dynamics of a wide range of functional magnetic heterostructures with absorption edges in the soft x-ray wavelength regime.